I learned a new word today, and I’m sure I’ll misuse it or at least use it in ways others think I shouldn’t.
Liminal: relating to, or being an intermediate state, phase, or condition:
In-between, Transitional
I paused to consider Christ’s followers when thinking about the day between burial and resurrection. They may not have connected his teachings to this moment, but he shared them several times, dealing with his death, burial, and resurrection. Three days, he said. Here, on a Saturday, a sabbath rest, in between the edges of counting. One is judgment and death. Three is resurrectional and hope, and two? If they even thought about it, a new word describes the moment.
Liminal. Intermediate state. In-between One and Three. They are transitioning and probably don’t even know it.
I pause betwixt the two.
Wondering between here and there,
Yesterday and Tomorrow.
Liminal. Transition. In between.
We face this moment
Oft times, not realizing the space
Between life and death, we think
But one has happened. The other? Not yet.
In transition, we feel defeated…
How will we feel tomorrow?
Scared. Awed. Amazed.
Between here and there, pray.
Yesterday, you wept.
Tomorrow, you rejoice.
Today, you feel the weight of the world.
Pray—the burden bearer of our life.
You don’t understand—pray.
You struggle to push through—pray.
You fight the emotions and feelings—pray.
Before all else falls—pray.
Prayer gives you strength.
How? By taking the load from you,
And giving the burden away.
It will not ease the moment.
At least you know… You prayed.
Little did they know. And I wonder if they had known.
The Garden was liminal. In between. Transitional.
Their last opportunity to pray with Him.
Before the weight of the cross settled in the ground.
Would they have done anything differently?
So He left them, went away again,
and prayed the third time,
saying the same words.
Then He came to His disciples and said to them,
“Are you still sleeping and resting?
Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.
Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand.”
(Matthew 26:44-46 NKJV)
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